7 Easy Ways to Improve Your Finances Right Now

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Do you find yourself with a few spare minutes each day with not much to do?

What if I told you that in just a few minutes each day, you can significantly improve your finances? There are a lot of tasks you can do if you have 15 minutes to spare. These aren't hour-long tasks that you won't be able to finish in a day – these are fairly quickly, often forgotten, and super easy to do.

Today, I'm going to share seven things you can do in just 15 minutes each that will have a marked impact on your finances.

These small tasks are easy but important and they can have a big impact on your money situation.

1. Look for Your Missing Cash

There are millions of dollars sitting in state unclaimed property accounts. If you've ever moved, you may have left a deposit check behind. A bill may have been refunded. A tax return unclaimed.

Find out if you're owed some money by visiting MissingMoney.com – endorsed by the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.

You, or someone you care about, might be very happy you did!

2. Answer Some Surveys

Want a few extra bucks in your pocket? Rewards sites, especially those with paid surveys, offer the opportunity to earn a little cash in your downtime.

Swagbucks and MyPoints are the two stalwarts of the industry (and both owned by Prodege, with a A+ rating by the BBB). Both offer a $5 bonus for new signups.

Another good survey site is Ipsos i-Say USA, run by Ipsos. Ipsos is based out of Paris, France but does a lot of market research, you may have seen them mentioned during the Presidential election because they partner with Reuters to do a ton of surveys. They've been in business since 1975!

3. Shop Through Cashback Sites

If you joined Swagbucks to do surveys, you can always use their shopping portal to earn points on the dollars you spend.

Otherwise, another popular site that you've probably heard of already is eBates. New users can get $10 when they join through our link and make $25 in qualifying purchases within 90 days. You'll also get the cashback from making those purchases, effectively double dipping with the bonus.

4. Slash Your Investment Fees

You can't predict what the stock market will do in the future (hopefully keep going up!) but you can check how much you're paying. High fees are the secret investment killer because they invisibly erode your investments. Sometimes they're unavoidable… sometimes you're simply overpaying.

Before you open any account, check online to find the best offers available.

6. Cancel Your Useless Subscriptions Automatically

A few years ago, I collected all the subscriptions I was paying for and realized I was wasting a ton of money on things I no longer cared about. $10 here, $15 there, it added up. I just didn't have the energy to call up each of these places and cancel – that's when I discovered Trim.

Trim is a free app that will cancel all this stuff for you. Absolutely free. (if you use Comcast, they even have a Comcast bill negotiator that will haggle with them for you!)

Just sign up, link up your accounts so it can find the subscriptions, then cancel the ones you don't want. So easy.

7. Check Your Credit Reports

One of the most important numbers in your adult life is your credit score. That's all based on your credit reports, which are held at three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax, TransUnion).